I've been attending the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival every year since 2001, and I drive eleven hours…read moreeach way to do it. Barefoot. In the snow. Uphill both ways. Just kidding. :) But I probably would if I had to. It used to take place the fourth weekend of July, but this year it was the first weekend of August. Probably best to watch the website for next and subsequent years' dates. Falcon Ridge is a three-day-long festival of contemporary folk music. I qualify it as "contemporary" to distinguish it from traditional folk, which you can find there to some degree, as well, but the roster centers mostly on singer-songwriters who perform their own work or develop new ways of presenting older tunes, along with string-driven bands. Cajun, bluegrass, and occasionally even polka are represented, as well. In addition to the main stage, there's a family stage with entertainment for the little ones, a dance tent featuring contra and other kinds of dancing until 2am, and a workshop stage for a more intimate experience. Tickets at the gate are around $40-50 for one day or $130-160 for the weekend, but they're much cheaper online ahead of time. The festival offers camping for the weekend across a huge expanse of farmland. RV and tent camping are both welcome, and the camping area is much more comfortable than at some other music festivals I've been to. There's plenty of room for groups to spread out, though the area nearest to the stages and the flattest ground get filled up pretty early. There's no modern plumbing or electrical hookups (it is just a farm), but the site crew volunteers build a fairly decent set of showers that operate by hose. Hike your way "up the hill" and you can find all-night stages set up in the campground itself for nighttime concerts organized independently from (but still permitted by) the festival itself. Though the scheduled stages in the main festival area run from roughly 10am to 2am (or to 6:30pm on the last day), it's possible to find music playing somewhere or another for a solid and unbroken 72 hours. Sometimes you have to remind yourself to sleep. I've been volunteering since 2004 and have met some awesome, amazing people by doing so. I look forward to seeing them year after year. When I head out from Ohio to get there, people ask me, "You're going alone?" and I have to say, "Only until I get there!" Volunteering gets you free admission and two meals a day. Different crews come with different demands on your time, but they'll all leave you plenty of time to enjoy the festival. The food and craft area has inexplicably shrunk in the past few years, but all my favorite food stands are still there where they've always been. There are food options for everyone from vegans to carnivores and everywhere in between. Absolutely obligatory (unless you're avoiding sugar, wheat, or chocolate, I suppose) are the chippers from Taste Budd's: chocolate chip cookie bars with the taste of a cookie and the density of a firm brownie. There's one vegan option, while dairy/egg eaters have a selection of a few varieties. There are two quibbles I have with the festival, which are shared by most festival regulars I know. One is not the festival's fault, but it's something to be aware of if you come. Although cellular phone service works mostly ok there, data service is nil, not just at the festival itself but in the entire town and surrounding area. I couldn't check into Falcon Ridge on the Yelp app because by the time I drove out far enough to get the signal I needed, Yelp told me I was too far away from the festival to check in. So although phone calls can go through, most people found text messages to be slow as muck, and most smartphone apps were useless. Not a tragedy if you're prepared for it. It might be questionable why you'd want to come out and be rustic for the weekend yet spend the whole time on your phone. The other quibble most definitely is the festival's responsibility, and that is performer booking. Now... I don't have any problem with the specific performers who do play regularly. I love and appreciate them. But aside from the Emerging Artists Showcase, the new blood is just veeeeeeery slow to trickle in. To be clear, I'm not talking about this year. This year was the 25th anniversary, and artists who'd been regular go-to acts in the past decade or so were plentiful, and that was to be expected. But the stagnant performer list has been the norm for some time. It is my understanding (though I could be wrong) that booking is currently done by one person. I think that it's the kind of task that could be better taken on by a full committee who can all contribute their varying tastes and battle it out to keep the performer list diverse and interesting for festival-goers from 10 to 100. But in case you couldn't tell, I'll still be going back for music each year regardless of who's playing.

This was a pretty amazing festival. Lots of good music. Everyone is extremely friendly. They had…read morevery unusual food. They had about 3 tents with bands always playing. Plus there are people playing music with small crowds all over the area. Lots of people camp here. Bring low chairs and/or a tarp and a flashlight. Book hotels B&B early or camp. Great services for kids. We had a great time over the three days.

Another year another successful harvest fest! This is a wonderful event hosted by the honest weight…read morefood co-op. There are tons of great farmers, bakers, brewmasters, and more! Come here to try amazing food samples, and see live demonstrations. Games and crafts area for the kids. Music from local bands on the stage in front of park play house. Meet the people behind the food you buy from the co-op and other great local grocers. This was the second year in a row I attended the event and I am glad I did. It's free to get in and fun to try samples of high quality food. They had some different vendors here this year and some repeats. Some of my favs were: tierra farm store (coconut curry cashews) Also a woman who makes crepes that are to die for (forget her name) and zen butters (a nut butter company) not to mention Browns was there with their beer as was Chatham brewery. It was a great stroll around the park. I can't wait for next year!

This was my first time at the River Street Festival. Parking, as usual in these places, was…read moreterrible, and we looped around for quite a while until we found a spot to squeeze in. There were definitely a wide range of different artisan crafts and goodies! Ranging from homemade soaps and scents to special meat scrubs, we got to try out a plethora of novel things! Sadly, we missed the Farmer's market, but there's always next year! Also, awesome tact to have the Yelp booth supply us with a charging station. Loved it!

It was great to see a stage set up for music, and all the great vendors…read more The only problem I had was I couldn't find the farmers market!

This is a yearly must come event. I been coming here for the past 8 years. It never fails how much…read morevariety of tulips they have. Nice peaceful event, it's helps to come the week before and get to see the early bloomers. Then come again later on for the late bloomers. Plenty of parking in the area and it's a nice stroll through the park.

I came on the day after the last day. It was still beautiful. Bring your cameras. I'm not sure if…read moreparking during the festival was a mess but there were plenty of roped off areas and signs saying no parking close to the flowers. There was also a delightful ticket guy roaming the area. I got great pictures. The vibe was nice. Young and old were enjoying the beautiful weather and sights.

Haven't been to it in a while; it seems to have improved since Covid is more or less over…read more They were vintners, distillers, and brewers from all over New York State, with small samples of their wears. It helps to be mindful of how much you're actually sampling. Inside the buildings are; vendors with a variety of sauces, jerky's, handicrafts, and other items.

Had tons of wine tasting and of course food! We were able to see some canine companions as well! A…read morelot of fashion seller, candles and so much more!! Brought a tons of seasoning, wine and balsamic home!! The dog treat was a hit! The best one we had was lobster roll from lobster and more which is a must try for $25. Some flowers are also outdoors which you can pick and choose from price ranges from $3-$5.

Probably the BEST music festival! There seems to be a festival someplace event week these days but…read morethe Taste Of Country is GREAT. A wonderful list of artists. Helpful staff to take care of all our needs. Then you have the location. Everything was well planned and made sure everyone had a great time. Thank You to all who worked to make this a friendly fun filled event.

If you love country music, you are doing yourself a serious disservice if you don't go to this…read morefestival. Although this year (2015) was only its third, the nascent festival surpassed all expectations. I am a huge country music fan (Tennessee born and bred) and went this year for the first time, along with my husband and 24 yo niece. We rented an RV (another first) and drove from Maryland to Hunter Mountain, NY. From the word go, the entire experience was amazing. We purchased Outlaw VIP tix with Premium RV camping, which allowed us to stay on site in our RV. The Outlaw tix gave us front row access to the stage for all shows, access to the VIP tents, etc. My husband and I made some amazing friends while hanging out in the VIP tents and will be meeting up with them again at the festival next year. Our niece loved the front row access to the concerts, but also liked that she could escape the sun, grab some food and drinks in the tents, and watch the show with us every so often. The food vendors were great, especially those from local businesses. Festival staff were amazing. HUGE kudos to those that produce this festival. Specifically, I would like to thank Steve, Paul, Kaitie, Pam, Jess and all the others such as the VIP tent servers (tent 2) that made this experience absolutely fabulous. We even purchased our tickets for next year before we left. In talking with my husband, we agree that this festival/trip rates as one of our all-time top vacations, which says it all considering we have traveled the globe extensively. The relaxed atmosphere, great music, good food, and super service resulted in a truly stress-free escape that we really needed. I have only one suggestion for next year: availability of water bottles and soda bottles in the VIP tents all three days would be super. They were available on the third day, which was great, and would love that availability throughout the festival.

For 2018 the Cheese Festival was held on Saturday, July 14. You might want to put a reminder on…read moreyour calendar in early July of any future year to get the date for that year's festival. The festival was 5 blocks long with over 60 tents set up by vendors. In addition to various craft cheeses there were condiments, baked goods, dairy products, wines, and some talented musical performers spread out over the blocks. Little Falls was once known as the Cheese Capital of the entire USA. The Little Falls Historical Society has outlined in the festival brochure a 3 stage Cheese History Trail that you can walk as you learn all about Little Falls' contribution to cheese making and its influence on the cost of cheese even as far away as Europe. I suggest you bring along a cooler with an ice pack or two to transport your purchases. The purchase opportunities here are delicious. Tip: Keep your brochure so you can remember to always look up these vendors to visit again as you travel throughout the Hudson/Mohawk valley, the Catskills, the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier.

What a disappointment. While it has been many years since we attended the Hudson Valley Garlic…read moreFestival in Saugerties, NY, we expected something similar with lots of garlic vendors offering many different varieties of garlic and various foods, both expected and unexpected, infused with garlic, e.g., fudge, ice cream, drinks, etc. Instead, we saw only a few (9 or 10?) vendors concentrating on garlic, and the only one who had something unique, chocolate cherry garlic fudge, was already sold out on the first day of the festival. Even the food truck vendors had nothing unique. I guess it's time for us to check out the Hudson Valley again.

After attending the Hudson Valley Garlic Fest a few times, I expected everything garlic. It took us…read morea half hour just to find a few vendors that even had garlic. Very disappointing! We didn't even stay or buy anything. Too over crowded and definitely lacking in garlic vendors and garlic food vendors. Just another crowded craft fair! Hudson Valley garlic festival is the real deal. They have garlic everything (see my review) This one is an imposter.